Great Edmonton Train Show - September 2003

Summary

NALUG organized a 40'x13' LEGO train display at the Great Edmonton
Train Show on Sept 20-21, 2003. Over 8000 people attended the
show at the Mayfield Inn Trade Center in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
The unique features of this show included:

Show Movie

(5 Meg)

About NALUG's Layout

Kevin Maynes coordinated the show this year. He introduced
everyone to Digital Command and Control (DCC), and showed us
how it can run different LEGO trains on the same track.
Kevin also built the first transfer table to appear in a LEGO
train layout. This allowed us to transfer rolling stock to
and from hidden storage without decoupling.

The layout included many Edmonton and Alberta landmarks.
A number of creations were replicas of real-life buildings,
including the Peace Hills Trust tower in the city, the
Old Strathcona fire hall, the Princess Theatre, and other
popular Whyte Avenue buildings.

Kevin's vision for this display was for it to be a "working
layout". Without human intervention, coal ore could be
transported by LEGO trains from one end of the the layout to
a factory at the other end. This required automation with
a LEGO RCX. Mindstorms was also used to run the trolley, a
glass passenger elevator, and a Bascule bridge. Other
mechanical creations included moving pumpjacks and a working
marquee on the Princess Theatre.